Birth families

Adoption is a way of providing a new family for a child when living with their birth family is not possible. Adoption is a legal process which transfers all parental responsibility for the child from their birth parents to their adoptive parent(s).

Adopt Birmingham supports birth and adoptive parents equally. We offer a range of support for birth parents and birth relatives, before, during and post adoption.

Breathe Trust Connect

Previously known as Breaking the Cycle, Breathe Trust Connect (BTC) is a non-statutory, voluntary therapeutic service for birth parents who have lost a child or children through adoption.

BTC aims to reduce the trauma associated with adoption, preventing future adoptions where possible, building relationships and improving lives. They strive to keep families together, where safe to do so, and offer specialist support to people who are at risk of further care proceeding.

There are different pathways birth parent(s) can access:

Adult Pathway

The Adult Pathway is for those who no longer have children in their care. BTC supports parents to understand and process their losses, experiences and to consider past and future parenting.

Pregnancy Pathway

The Pregnancy Pathway is for those who have lost a child(ren) to adoption and currently pregnant. BTC help to strengthen the parent and unborn baby’s relationship. Support is offered throughout the pregnancy and after birth including practical help and a space to reflect on their pregnancy and past and present parenting.

Parenting Pathway

The Parenting Pathway is for those who have a lost a child(ren) to adoption but have since given birth to another child and successfully parenting. BTC help to strengthen the parent and child(ren) relationship, offering emotional support, therapeutic parenting groups, opportunities to meet other parents with similar experiences and support in meetings.

New Growth

Breathe Trust Connect (BTC) also offers the New Growth Project, a therapeutic support service for care experienced people in Birmingham who are expecting their first baby (up to week 28 gestation). This service is also available to partners, the team understand that pregnancy can be a difficult time for everyone and that being care experienced can bring additional challenges. The New Growth Project offers practical and emotional support at your pace alongside a specialist Pregnancy Outreach Worker that is funded through Start for Life Fund.

There are two different pathways to access depending on the circumstances and needs of the birth parent(s):

Pregnancy Pathway

New Growth’s role is to support parent’s from as early on in their pregnancy as possible, not to assess. We are here to help people feel safe and connected with those who can support you. New Growth can help you understand any assessments that might take place and can attend meetings/appointments with you. We understand that being pregnant can be an anxious time. Our aim is to strengthen your relationship with your unborn baby and the professionals working with you.

Parenting Pathway

New Growth work alongside parent(s) to strengthen their relationship between themselves and their child(ren). They support your emotional wellbeing and run therapeutic parenting groups and family events. New Growth can support you to meet other care experienced people and help you be the parent you want to be.

Next Steps

Following a referral parents will be contacted by a member of the team, either our Referral & Advice Officer or a Therapeutic Worker, to be invited to an Initial Meeting to consider what support can be provided by BTC or New Growth. Every person will be offered therapeutic support and weekly sessions. Following this individuals will be offered an Intervention which are specific to each pathway.

Sessions are often weekly but can be more or less frequent. There is no time limited on how long BTC & New Growth works with individuals, this could be weeks, months or years.

The work provided is trauma informed and underpinned by models of therapeutic life story work, Dyadic Development Psychotherapy (DDP) and Attachment-based practice.

We are always happy to talk about the different services we can offer.

Email: BTC@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk to complete a self-referral or if you are working with a support service or professional, you can ask them to make the referral on your behalf.

You can also contact us by phone on 0121 303 1699 to have a chat about the service we provide.